They Don't Know About Us
by Just Dyana
Summary: Everybody in Sky High knows that Layla Williams and Will Stronghold are invincible at Save the Citizen — they're the perfect team. That doesn't mean that people don't try to beat them though. This time, it's Rachel Munroe's turn, with her powers on air. And she picked Warren Peace to be her partner. Warren/Layla.
1. Don't Save The Citizen

Don't Save The Citizen

Virtually everybody in Sky High knew that Layla Williams and Will Stronghold were invincible, or at the very least, yet unbeaten, at Save the Citizen. Sure, they weren't the first with that title, but there was no doubt, in anybody's mind, that they were the best heroes possible — that, despite Layla having proudly decided to remain in the Hero Support class. Even with their constant victories, they graciously left the floor for others if they wanted to fight, and never picked their own adversaries, unless they had been asked to.

Playing against them, rather than about competition, had become all about progressing, getting better as a hero, and understanding how to find your enemy's weak points. They were always nice and helpful after defeating their previous adversaries, too.

Basically, they were pure hero material, to a point that was almost annoying.

Scratch that, to a point that a lot of people found it annoying.

Of course, there were people who genuinely wanted to kick them off of their pedestal. Some had already tried, and some had yet to make their move.

Rachel Munroe was one of them.

She'd been watching for weeks, assessing the situation, carefully examining their every move, until she had come up with a plan that she thought she could make work.

Of course, Will Stronghold wasn't a problem. Sure, the kid was impressive, and his cleverness when he faced with challenges during a fight was something to take into account — something she was glad she had had the opportunity of seeing, because he certainly didn't display it the rest of the time. However, she was convinced she could take him. She wasn't born yesterday either, after all.

No, the biggest unknown factor was Layla Williams. She wasn't the one who did most of the fighting, standing back, watching, careful, ready to jump in at any point to support Will. Yet her powers most certainly weren't any less impressive as her partner's, but that was the problem.

Rachel had no idea just how good nor how strong she was.

She had come up with a plan, sure, having found in the rest of the school the perfect person to take down plant girl, but Layla was still the main reason why she wasn't a hundred percent sure she would win.

She hated that, but at the same time, there was a nice thrill to it.

"Anyone want to have a go at Williams and Stronghold?" Coach Boomer's voice was vaguely annoyed. Seriously, no one in school would have been surprised to discover the guy was secretly a Super Villain, based on how much he seemed to dislike heroes winning.

"Here, Coach!" Rachel yelled, standing up.

He turned to look at her, then gave her an appreciative nod. Girl had arrived in the school recently, made her way straight to the Hero Class, and you know what? He still entertained the hope _someone_ could take the two, and she was as good a bet of anyone else.

"You go, Munroe! We need a second—"

"I'm calling Warren Peace!"

There was a shuddering silence after her announcement, everyone staring as Warren stood up, slowly. Even though he was now regularly seen talking to other students and seemed to be on, if not friendly, at least neutral terms with both Layla and Will, he still had the reputation of someone you absolutely shouldn't mess with. The Coach allowed a dangerous laugh to escape his lips. Oh, he wanted to see that.

Everyone missed the brief, worried exchange of glances between Warren and Layla.

It was time to fight.

* * *

If you asked Layla what her main asset was, she would no doubt have answered you it was how focused and calm she could remain, how in control she was. She would define herself as being the opposite of Will, who, well, had the tendency of using his emotions as a fuel to fight. It worked out rather well for the two of them, so she couldn't say she minded. In fact, that was exactly why they made the best of team and the best of friends.

Friends, most definitely, though half of the school probably thought they dated. Well, they had, but it had only lasted a couple of weeks before they came down from the high induced by the whole Royal Pain situation, and realized for Layla that she just wasn't in love with Will anymore — funny how that can go — and for Will, that while he _loved _Layla, there was nothing remotely romantic about his feelings.

But this was _not _the right moment to think about that, even if she needed to convince herself that they had a chance to win this.

She didn't know Rachel that well just yet and hadn't particularly marked her down as a threat, since the black-haired girl was rather discreet, however she had seemed… surprisingly confident earlier. Which was not exactly reassuring.

Layla exchanged a quick look with Will. The boy looked rather relaxed. Some times she appreciated the natural assurance he had gained once he had gotten his powers, others she wished he would take things more seriously.

Like right now, for example.

Layla did _not _like to lose.

She talked a lot about how competition was bad and everything, and she _firmly_ believed that. She thought the system at Sky High was deeply flawed, and currently her plan for the future was to become a teacher here and try to change it.

Still, she couldn't stand the idea of losing.

She watched Warren and Rachel get in place, facing them, having put on the suits the villains always wore. She wondered how Warren felt about it. She knew for a fact that he hated being treated as a villain, even if it wasn't in direct reference to his father. She couldn't read it on his face though, as he was wearing his impenetrable scowl. She thought she'd gotten better at that, but apparently it turned out that he could very much hide it from her if he chose to. She felt a painful squeeze in her chest at that thought.

He glared at her and Will darkly, and Rachel quickly moved towards him, pulling him down by grabbing his shoulder and whispering quickly in his ear.

He seemed to listen, and then she pulled her hand away with a yelp, the sight almost getting a smile out of Layla.

Yeah, Warren didn't take too kindly to being touched without a warning.

"Stronghold, Williams," Coach Boomer said. "You're the heroes. You have three minutes to immobilize your opponents, and save the citizen." They all knew the rules, obviously, but he still had to remind them at the beginning of every fight. "And… BATTLE!"

There wasn't a second lost then. With the assurance given by months of practice, Will dove forward.

That was their most 'basic' move. With his ability to fly, he could just go get the citizen — and then it wouldn't take too long for him and Layla to figure out a way to immobilize the villains, especially with the help of her plants. It was rare for people to be able to stop him for that first one.

This was one of those times though. Right as he was nearing the citizen, a strong gusts of wind suddenly pushed him backwards, sending him against the limits of the arena, at the bottom of which he fell down with a grunt.

Layla immediately turned towards Rachel. She was grinning, hands up, eyes shining in an unnatural way. She looked like she had already won. It was only seconds before Will was up next to Layla again, and that did make her smile waver. Layla gave Will a nod, and it was her turn to use her powers, moving her hands just a little. A giant root came out from seemingly nowhere, and Will easily jumped on to it, wrapping his arms around it as it carried him towards the citizen again.

Rachel's wind slowed Layla down a little, but it wouldn't be enough to stop her completely, which the black-haired teenager seemed to realize soon. That was exactly the type of info she would have liked to have earlier — but it would be fine. After all, it was exactly for that kind of reasons that she had picked her partner.

What on _earth_ was he doing, by the way?

"Peace!" she shouted, mostly focused on her fight against Layla's power, knowing that there was no use trying to make Will fall with his super-strength at work. "The hell are you waiting for?!"

Warren hesitated one second too long.

"Get your head in the game, Peace!" Coach Boomer shouted from his chair.

Shit. He really, really didn't want to do that.

He lit up both of his arms, and threw two fireballs at Layla's plant.

He hadn't been ready for her scream, that sounded like a scream of pain, and for a second he almost ran up to her to make sure she was okay, but he couldn't do that as Will, letting go of the root, started running towards him, almost managing to punch him back before Rachel's wind caught him again. This time she apparently decided on keeping him dangling in the air, where he remained for a moment, powerless, with no support for him to escape her. She shot Warren a grin, but her victory was short-lived. Layla had already fully recovered, and wasn't out of plants just like she had hoped.

Under Will, a tree grew up, and as soon as he got hold of it, it wasn't hard for him to get himself out of Rachel's clutches.

By then though, half of the time was already gone.

The time had stopped moving in the arena, people had stopped breathing. This was… This was _not_ high-school level. They were seeing a true heroes-villains fight unfolding in front of them, and no one dared making a sound, even when, for a brief moment, there was no movement down there.

Layla and Will looked at each other once more, before she cocked her head towards Rachel. He understood immediately, something that came from their years of friendship and months of fighting side by side.

Layla was right, of course. Rachel had planned things one way — her against Will, Layla against Warren.

They had to switch things up.

Without a warning, they both started running opposite ways. Will straight towards Warren, but this time, before Rachel could do anything to intercept him, Layla was casting her plants at her. For one second, everything seemed to go just as planned.

Layla was easily one of the best students of the school in terms of control of her ability. When she was there, Gwen had probably been better at her than that, even during her first high school, but Layla could still do basically whatever she wanted with her powers, which was why she had no trouble protecting herself from the wind with leaves in front of her, and she knew she'd get her branches around Rachel sooner rather than later.

Well, that's what she had expected, at least.

With her powers, it had made sense to her that Rachel would be specialized in long-distance fighting and not so much in hand-to-hand fighting.

So she had most definitely not expected Rachel to surge through her leaves and to kick her backwards, immediately sending her in Warren's direction with the help of her wind, simultaneously grabbing Will with it once more. This time she wasn't fast enough for him not to be able to catch some of Layla's plants, now all over the ground. She grimaced when he escaped her once more. She had never used her powers that much in one fight, and she was starting to feel exhausted. _Shit_. She didn't want to lose.

"One minute left!" Coach Boomer miraculously remembered to shout, going mostly ignored by his students, and in fact even earning himself a couple of "shhh" coming from the bleachers.

They had no time to waste, Layla decided. They still had to immobilize Rachel and Warren, and she had _no idea_ how they'd do that for him. She didn't want Will to knock him unconscious, and as long as he was here, she wouldn't be able to use her plants on Rachel either. She could of course bury him under enough wood and leaves so it would take him some time to push through, but that sounded extremely dangerous, and she liked to keep things safe.

Still, she started developing her plants and they soon were creeping all over the arena, covering it entirely in some sort of moving, swarming nest, circling around the ankles of the three others, only loosely around Will to make sure he could stay on the ground but would be able to move.

It was when she attempted to make Rachel fall down that things took a turn for the worst. The second Rachel started staggering, waving her arms to keep some balance and starting to use her wind for herself as opposed to against Will, Warren threw a fireball while setting himself on fire, effectively burning everything that was around him.

Laya should have known. She should have expected it. She knew the connection she shared with her plants, the pain she would undoubtedly feel if they were hurt. She shouldn't have used that many at the same time.

It would take her a long time to stop blaming herself for it all.

She lost it. She had never even thought it was possible for her. It had never, _ever_ happened before. Not even in anger.

But there was _pain_, _everywhere_, and _everything hurt_, and it needed to _stop_.

Now.

Will couldn't afford to turn around to see what was happening, even as the plants stopped moving and seemed to lose their life somehow. They had less than fifteen seconds left — it was now or never.

Grabbing the carpet of roots created by Layla, he used his strength to shake it, once, and the second a surprised Rachel did fall backwards, he was up in the air.

_Oh, no._ No, she wasn't letting him do that — not when she'd come this far! Rachel rose a hand to stop—

But Will hadn't let go of the roots as he'd jumped up. Its move as he ripped it off the ground had her rolling off of it, and when he landed back down right as the alarm rang out, he pulled it back on her, effectively trapping it underneath it.

The crowd erupted in cheers, and for once, Coach Boomer actually sounded happy to announce Layla and Will's victory.

Layla didn't hear any of it.

She was just regaining control, just understanding again what was happening around her, in front of her, what she was doing. Warren had set her plants on fire and then— _Warren_.

Her plants moved away from him, freeing his throat and his face, allowing him to breathe, and he fell to the ground, choking. They had been tied so tight around him that his fire didn't get the oxygen it needed to burn, she realized, absolutely horrified.

"Warren!" she cried out, running towards him, going completely unnoticed underneath the crowd's shouts.

It had only lasted a few seconds. It wouldn't have been enough to kill him, and she knew that but it killed her to think she had hurt him. She didn't— She didn't hurt people. It wasn't her power. She never even knocked them unconscious, as Will did sometimes. And to think she had hurt _him_, of all people…

Her hands founds his shoulders and Warren looked up. For a second, his eyes met hers, doing his best to reassure her in that silent way, and he wrapped his fingers around her wrist, squeezing it tightly.

Then, he let go, and he moved away. She winced when she saw his hand rubbing his throat in discomfort, but she didn't get more time to get close to him, to ask him if he was okay before Will lifted her up, flying through the gymnasium, under the other students' acclamation. He'd taken the time to free Rachel first, because _of course he had_, and she watched them, arms folded, frowning.

Well, they'd won this time, she decided with a smirk. Barely.

Next time, she'd be ready.

But when her eyes met Layla's, she knew she wouldn't be the only one.

* * *

Technically, she should have waited until the end of class. That was their agreement, and Layla was good at respecting agreements.

But today, she grabbed him and dragged him into an empty classroom.

"Hey, what d'you think you're…"

Before he could continue, the door was closed behind him. For once, she figured they could afford it. People wouldn't think much about it — after all, it was very "like her" to worry about someone she had injured, even if it was during Save the Citizen.

"Listen, I'm—"

"You're not fine!" Layla snapped, pushing him on to a table so he would be at her level as she lifted his head carefully, grimacing at the marks she'd left around his neck.

Warren finally stopped moving, grimacing ever so slightly when her fingers traced said marks. Layla closed her eyes briefly, undoing one of her bracelets to set it on the table with trembling fingers and, under Warren's surprised eyes, one of the beads grew into a plant.

So _that_ was how she was doing it at Save the Citizen? Well, shit. He had never even noticed her doing that, and yet he paid _very close_ attention to her when she was playing.

He watched her cutting leaves and pushing some sort of ointment in her hands before raising them towards his neck. He caught her wrists before she could do anything. She was shaking in a way he had never seen of her. She barely tried to fight him before breaking down into tears.

"Hey, hey," he said, trying to hide his discomfort at seeing her cry. "I'm fine. I'm okay." He didn't know what to do with this. His hands travelled on her arms to settle on her shoulders, attempting to carry out his emotions and his reassurance that way.

"Stop _saying that!_" she protested between sobs. "You're _not_!" Even now, as he was trying to comfort her — when she should be the one doing the comforting, dammit! — she could tell his voice was hoarse, that it had a hard time coming out.

She hated it.

He allowed her to cry for a moment, before she could regain her usual control. Sniffing, but her hands still again, she moved once more and this time, he let her take care of his neck, her soft hands and the fresh whatever-that-was soothing his skin.

"Aren't you giving out some precious informations to the opposite team?" he tried to joke, pointing at the plant on the table.

Layla chuckled through her tears.

"Stop trying to make me feel better, Warren," she said softly. "I know I fucked up."

He rose an eyebrow at her cursing, and his hands tentatively went to her waist, slipping under her shirt and brushing against her skin. She drew in a shivering breath and let him pull her closer, standing between his legs.

"I'm sorry," she whispered when he put his forehead against her.

"'s okay, hippie. I know you didn't mean to do that."

"But it's not okay, Warren," she sighed. "I don't want to hurt people. Ever."

"I know."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"I know."

"I don't want it to happen again."

This time, Warren didn't say anything, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on top of hers.

"Yeah, I know that too. But it's not a bad thing, to know your limits. We all have to find them, here. It means you know where you still have work to do. Even for you, there'll always be things you have a hard time doing."

Layla let herself relax against his broad, warm chest. She felt guilty for letting herself be comforted when he was the one who had just been hurt, and she could only guess he was talking of experience. Except that his fire would do much more lasting damage than her plants — or, well, than the ones she was carrying on herself in general.

There was still so much she didn't know about him.

So much she wanted to know.

Warren kissed her forehead.

She smiled.

Then he moved to her closed eyes. Then to her cheeks. And then, finally, he kissed her. He was always behaving with such restraint, when he started kissing her, like he was afraid he would burn himself.

_Or like he would burn her…_

She kept the kiss soft and gentle, following his jawline with her fingertips, but wasn't too surprised when he pulled away with a grunt, refusing to look at her as a blush spread on his face, obvious even under his tanned skin. She knew it was her tenderness, her kindness that got to him the most.

She had to admit, she kind of liked it.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

His dark eyes met hers. "I told you, I'm fine. It's not the first fight I lose."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Warren."

He smiled. She wasn't going to let go of that, was she? "Apology accepted, hippie."

She leaned in to kiss him again, this time with more passion, more _heat,_ pressing herself closer to him. He groaned against her mouth, running his fingers through her hair as he put his hand on her lower back possessively.

The kiss was brief though, because as soon as she opened her mouth against his, Warren pulled away, panting.

"Not now. Someone could come in."

Layla sighed, but nodded. It had seemed like a good idea, at first, this secret relationship. She knew how much people could pry in someone else's life when it was none of their business, and she wasn't exactly impatient to hear people calling her a whore for being with someone other than Will.

She suspected that wasn't Warren's idea though, suspected that he didn't want her facing accusations for being with him — school's bad guy, villain in the making. She hoped he at least knew how much she didn't care. One day, she would have to convince him about that.

Today wasn't the day though.

She kissed him one last time, squeezed his hand gently, then slipped out of the room.

Warren watched her intently, then closed his eyes once she had gotten out. His throat almost didn't hurt anymore, but that wasn't all the healing Layla did on him. There was so much she was making _better_ just by being there. Just by accepting to be by his side.

He had no right to make her face any problem for being with him, he was well aware of that. But she made him _want_ to be selfish. So he would enjoy this as long as he could, as long as it lasted.

Until the inevitable moment when he would have to let go of her.

* * *

_I hope you have enjoyed this! This should be the first installment in one-shots in semi-contuinity for a Secret Relationship AU. Don't hesitate to let me know what you thought about it in a review!_

_Dya._


	2. I Need A Hero

I Need A Hero

When Layla heard the discreet knock against her window, she didn't know whether she should be annoyed or happy. If it was Will _again_, she decided, she would get a little angry at him — because of course, she could never get _fully_ angry at her stupid childhood best friend. Even if it was for an umpteenth attempt of saving the plant she had given him for his birthday. At this point, she had kind of given up on seeing him save it. If it was Warren, though… Well then it would be a whole other story, wouldn't it?

First of all, if it was Warren, he would actually have to work to get there. He didn't live next door, though it wasn't that long a walk for him until here, and he certainly couldn't fly. She could have used her powers to lower a branch for him, but he had gotten used to climbing it himself and then jumping into her room. Not the easiest nor the safest thing, but try telling that to a guy in a Superhero school… Plus, Layla sort of liked it. She appreciated a guy who made an _effort_, you know.

Glancing through her window, she couldn't help but smiling when she saw him on the ground, and for a second, he smiled back, granting her the rare sight she was slowly but surely falling in love with.

It was brief though. Too brief, maybe, even for him, before he glanced away and started climbing the tree. She couldn't help but frowning as she opened the window widely, discreetly growing the grass underneath it to soften the fall, just in case.

One moment later though, he was landing safely inside her room, rolling on the ground and getting back up in one swift movement that Layla shamelessly admired. She had to admit, the fact that he was a year older than her and Will really showed in his training. She gave him a soft smile when their eyes met.

"Hey, is everything…"

Before she could finish her sentence, her back was pressed against the wall, his mouth against hers, warm, feverish, almost desperate. His hands were travelling on her body — her waist, her hips, gripping a thigh, climbing back up to her neck —, in a way that made it impossible to focus, so she simply gave up on that, kissing him back with just as much energy.

She would be lying if she said that she didn't miss him during the day. Even when they did spend time together then, they weren't _open_ about it, and though keeping the relationship secret was the choice they had made, she hoped one day they would both be comfortable with making it public.

She ran her fingers on his cheeks, tracing his jaw before losing them in his hair, undoing the bun he was still wearing after his shift at the paper lantern. They fell back in place, brushing against her cheek, and this was when Warren pulled back, out of breath.

She gave him a hesitant but encouraging smile. This wasn't like him, and she knew it. Not that they never got, erm, physical, but Warren, for all his reputation, was rather slow at that stuff. He was careful with her, always making sure she was comfortable with everything they did, and he seemed to enjoy the soft moments, the hugs, the secret dates, more than anything else.

Not that she minded having him like that some times. She had definitely been craving _more_ recently — but she doubted this was really what was at stake here.

"What's going on?" she asked softly.

With a groan, he wrapped his arms around her to bury his head in her neck, getting a chuckle from her. His girlfriend knew him just a little too well.

"I'm fine," he mumbled anyway.

"Yeah, sure. You want to talk about it?"

"No."

Layla sighed, running her fingers through his hair. She knew he had been planning on cutting them shorter — would be better for fighting — but she secretly hoped he would wait a little longer. She really loved it like that. She also hoped the gesture would be relaxing, maybe allow him talk to her. Though she could easily talk to Warren about her problems, and she knew Will did too every once in a while (and probably Magenta, Zach and Ethan as well, much to the young man's dismay), he tended to be much more secretive. He let out a few informations every now and then, about his parents, about his childhood, but he was still very much of a mystery to her.

Not that it was a problem. She could absolutely understand his desire to keep some things private. She just wished he would share more with her, if not because she could help, then at least to relieve himself of some the weight. She wanted to be there for him. With him. They could do this together now, he didn't have to deal with it all alone.

"Fine, fine, I'll talk," he mumbled then, moving away from her.

She grinned, though she found herself immediately missing his characteristic warmth. It never failed, did it?

He eyed her bed and motioned to it with a movement of the head.

"Want to…?"

"Sure."

Soon they were both sitting on it, Warren, as often, with his head on her lap as she resumed to playing with his hair. He would never admit it out loud, but hell, he loved it when she did this.

"So, what happened?"

He didn't know how she did it. How everything about her could be just exactly what he needed, how she seemed to soothe all of his pains, how she made all of the bad things go away just by being there. He didn't know what he had done to deserve her either, but he intended to enjoy every minute of it.

Before she inevitably noticed what a mistake she was making.

"A friend of my dad's contacted me."

The hands stilled.

"You mean…"

"A supervillain."

Layla swallowed with some difficulty, resuming to her movements, trying to hide her fear. She was one of the best students of Sky High, she was trained for that sort of situations, probably better than most people ever would be. Still, Barron Battle was _not_ a laughing matter. Neither were the people he associated with.

"Are you okay?"

Warren grinned. _This_. This was why he loved her. Anyone else would have jumped to conclusion and asked "What did you say?", worrying about them offering him to join the Supervillain League. But that hadn't even crossed her mind.

"I'm okay," he replied with a vague shrug. "Might have a limp for the next few days but…"

She mumbled something under her breath, almost a curse, which he would have thought was hilarious any other time, and pushed him off of her.

"Let me see."

"Layla…"

"Warren, let me see. I can probably make a balm or—"

"_Layla_," he interrupted her, grabbing her arms, stopping her from fretting over him. "I'm okay. It's not like it's the first time."

Her eyes went wide with shock. "What?" Warren sighed, glancing away and pushing his hair behind his ear as he attempted not to meet her eyes.

"My mother wasn't there a lot when I was a child. She was a super, so…" A shrug. "The villains, on the other hand, well, they're all about recruitment, you know? Taking you to the dark side and all that stuff."

_No she did not_. And she didn't like the way he rolled his eyes like it was just an annoying part of his life.

"I don't want to be a villain."

She clenched her fists. She wasn't one to get angry, but right now, she was _furious_. She knew that, of course, or rather she knew that there was no way Warren _could_ be a villain. An ambiguous hero, maybe, with somewhat less of a reluctance to violence than others, but all in all, Warren was fundamentally about protecting others. And it drove her insane that people thought of him differently.

From the corner of her eye, she saw her plants starting to twitch dangerously, their leaves growing and their branches waving murderously. She forced herself to calm down, watching them shrink back to a normal size. If she ran into one of those Villains, they would have _words_, certainly, but until then, she had a boyfriend to comfort.

"I know," she smiled, reaching out to gently touch his cheek. "You'd make a terrible villain."

He let out his deep, surprising laugh, grabbing her hand to press a short kiss against her palm, and Layla's smile widened. That was better. He let his emotions surface so rarely that seeing him disheartened or hurt genuinely worried her. Happy emotions weren't much more frequent, but she could deal with them better.

"I don't know if I'd make a much better hero."

There was a question in his voice. Layla didn't miss it.

"I think you would make a _great_ hero," she replied with emphasis. It was true; she trusted Warren with everything she had. Maybe it wasn't completely rational, and there were probably other people who would have voiced their concerns — Warren had made poor choices in the past, the side of the Villains was always so tempting, and there was this tendency to use violence to solve his problems —, but Layla simply didn't care. Call it love, call it intuition, call it naivety.

She believed in him, and right now, that was exactly what he needed. So he moved his arms around her waist, holding her tighter against him, and he closed his eyes.

He wasn't as confident as she was. He didn't know where he would be in a couple of years, whose footsteps he would follow. He had no doubt that Layla would become a heroin, though. If anyone could save the planet at this point, it would be her.

But for now, she was _his_ hero, and he intended to enjoy that for as long as he could.

* * *

_Hope you're enjoying this series, don't hesitate to leave a review if you do, they genuinely help fueling my writing! (:_


	3. Because of You

Because of You

Sometimes, fugitively, Warren regretted the time when he was all alone at his table for lunch. Mostly, he regretted the _calm_. Yeah, he was still in a refectory full of students, however the ones surrounding him always talked in a hushed voice, and he always appreciated this island of _silence_ all around him. That was something he _certainly_ didn't get to enjoy anymore.

Not that he hated, or even disliked, the people surrounding him — though he would never tell them that—, but damn were they _loud_. Zach and Will, in particular, were probably his worst nightmare come true: too friendly, and convinced he was actually a _good _person. What was up with that?

The only one who could get away with pretty much anything would be the girl sitting opposite him, currently laughing at one of Zach's absolutely terrible jokes. Also the one responsible for people actually liking him and disrupting his peace, in fact. Yeah, he'd glare at her, but that was mostly so he could simply, well, look at her without being too obvious about it.

And every once in a while, she would turn back, still smiling from something one of her friends had said, and he would just silently melt inside when their eyes met.

So the noise was the main new inconvenience, but it wasn't the only one.

Something else that happened was that people seemed to start thinking it was okay to open their damn mouths in front of him. He was used to the whispers, could practically read the insults on their lips, but he didn't have to actually ever _hear_ them. If the noise was good for one thing, that would have to be it. It drowned them out, now that people seemed to think he'd softened and wouldn't beat them to a pulp if he heard them.

"…worth no better than his _murderer_ of a father…"

He tensed when the words dripped to him with absolute disgust. He found the culprit almost immediately. She hadn't even bothered to try and pretend, staring straight at him, eyes shining with anger. He recognized her, too, and his heart dropped a little in his chest. Ah. That complicated the matter. Instead of standing up, like he probably should have, he found himself debating what he should do. And that was when all hell broke loose.

"Excuse me?"

Fuck.

"I think you heard me right, Williams," Grace Summers replied, straightening herself.

A dangerous silence fell on the cafeteria as Layla stood up, looking shocked. She was recognized as one of the strongest students in school, sure, but it was only her second year at Sky High. Grace, on the other hand, would graduate soon, and her telekinesis power was known for being devastating.

"How can you say something like that?" Layla asked in disbelief, and despite his annoyance at her turning this into a _situation_, Warren couldn't help but appreciate her outrage. She was only looking out for him, after all.

Grace scoffed.

"The apple never falls far from the tree," she replied bitterly, and Warren openly rolled his eyes. He was used to it at this point, but people like her could get really ridiculous.

"Warren has nothing to do with what his father has done," Layla replied, now practically _vibrating_ with anger. "I can't _believe_ you'd lower yourself to—"

"Drop it, red."

Everyone turned to Warren as he got up, grabbing his bag. He shot Layla a warning look that she didn't seem to understand, merely staring at him, mouth gaping.

"Yeah, _red_, drop it," Grace mocked her openly. "Or maybe just do your homework. Do you even have _any idea_ what his father has done?"

Warren clenched his teeth. He'd hoped this wouldn't escalate like that. It was precisely what he was trying to avoid. He really, really didn't need yet another reminder of what his father had done either.

"I really don't see…"

"I said _drop it_," he growled, and this time when Layla looked at him, part of her anger was for him, mixed with hurt that made his throat tighten. This wasn't what he meant to do.

"He murdered _my_ father," Grace continued anyway, and he realized he'd done it all for nothing. "He was saving citizens and Barron Battle blew up the building he was in."

"And that _still_ has nothing to do with Warren," Layla hissed, appearing more and more ready to get into a fist fight with every second that passed.

"I'm fucking _serious_, Williams!" Warren exploded. "Forget it!"

Shoving past her, he got right in Grace's face. She was almost his height, and appeared completely unimpressed.

"If you keep talking, Summers, you'd better get prepared to have your vocal chords burnt off."

"I'd love to see you try, _Battle_," she replied, raising her chin defiantly.

He growled and hit her shoulder with his on his way out. He almost had trouble breathing now, but he was also starting to literally fume. Sure, she was a bitch, but he couldn't reasonably beat up someone who was hurt because their father had been murdered. He didn't mind playing dirty, he'd certainly done so with Stronghold, but he refused to stoop that low.

Grace's eyes went back to Layla, whose eyes were still on Warren's back. She opened her mouth, but Will shook his head, standing behind his best friend.

"You got what you wanted, Grace. Let's stop that now."

She seemed annoyed, but she still walked away. She wasn't scared of Will by anyway, but he was still a hero, and she respected that. Plus, he was right, though she wouldn't have minded getting into a fight with that little goody two shoes. "Not Warren's fault", gosh, really? They didn't live in a Utopia. Sooner or later, the evil that ran in the family would catch up to him. Of that, she was convinced.

And also, her father had been murdered just a little over five years ago, and she really, really missed him today.

"I'm capable of leading my own fights, Will," Layla mumbled as the crowd that had gathered for the confrontation started walking away.

"So is Warren," her best friend replied softly.

Layla bit her bottom lip. Yeah, but it was different. She had been _more than ready_ to actually fight. She'd seen the look on Warren's face. He would have walked away, and she guessed she could understand why now, but it just wasn't like her to let something unfair slide.

"You're right," she said bitterly, "so we should all have looked in the other direction while she was insulting him."

Will opened her mouth to respond, but she shook her head.

"I know that's what you were _all_ about to do. So _forgive me_ if I actually have a problem with that attitude."

With that she stormed off, and Magenta threw her hands in the air. Sometimes, she wished Layla would get off of her high horse. Will, however, grimaced. He could see where she was coming from, and she was right. He wouldn't have said anything, and maybe there was a problem with that. Because reasonably, Layla had a point. Blaming someone for their parents' wrongdoings was, well, wrong, and no doubt hurtful for Warren. But this wasn't just about reason, and she seemed to fail to see that.

It was a part of her, no doubt, and even something he'd say he liked about her, that absolute righteousness in her actions. He wasn't sure what the right answer was in that situation, but he still felt like sometimes, maybe that could cloud her judgement.

And not once did he suspect that her reactions might have been due to her particular attachment to the super-villain's son.

* * *

To put it simply, Warren had had a shitty day, the young man thought grimly as he finished cleaning up the tables at the Paper Lantern. There had been the altercation with Grace Summers, which had played again and again in his mind for the rest of the day. Everything she'd said — how terrible his father was, how he'd end up like him — was something he'd told himself a thousand times before, and that he'd heard another thousand times. It never stopped being painful though.

He could probably have handled that if there hadn't been the thing with Layla. He'd blamed himself for it during the following hours of class, and he'd hoped they would be able to reconcile. And then he'd ran into her in the hallway and she hadn't even acknowledged his existence, just walking past him like he didn't exist, and that was the exact moment he'd known he'd made a mistake.

He'd tried to tell himself that, hey, she wasn't much better, and she'd fucked up too, but that was all useless.

He didn't know how to function without her anymore, and he was terrified he would have to learn to do it again.

So the relief that flooded through him when he saw her sitting under a streetlight, on the bench that faced the restaurant, with a book on her knees, was indescribable. She heard him as he crossed the street and got to her feet. She opened her mouth, ready to go for a no doubt longly rehearsed speech but he leaned in to steal a brief kiss, relishing the taste of her lips and the contact of her skin.

He'd missed her today.

When he pulled back, it appeared she'd completely lost her train of thought and was just opening and closing her mouth over and over.

And she was absolutely adorable doing that. A chuckle escaped him as he noticed that she was starting to blush, too. Somehow, this might be what he found most incredible about their relationship. That she could get that affected by him. _Him_, of all people.

Finally, Layla managed to take a deep breath, and she looked straight into his eyes.

"I can't sit back doing nothing while you're getting insulted," she said bluntly.

"I had my reasons—"

"I know, Warren, I do, but I also know that you hate it when people say stuff like that. I know you're terrified you'll end up like your dad, and I _can't_ stand back when I know what it'll put your through."

He smiled, then nodded. He could feel his palms heating up a little, but this time, it had nothing to do with anger.

"I'm sorry I… You know."

"You'd better be sorry," she said with a frown, feigning anger. "If you talk to me like that again, I might have to make sure you can't sit on the grass at Sky High ever again."

That sounded… just a little too serious.

"Wait hippie, you didn't…"

"I'm _firmly_ non-violent. But I do believe in civil disobedience."

He shook his head, the 'I love you' just about to slip past his lips, but he didn't dare to say it out loud. Instead, he kissed her again, and this time, she pressed herself against him, her hand travelling to his face to cup his jaw. There was so much she wanted to convey in this kiss. How much she cared for him, how much she loved, how much she _believed_ in him.

"I'll walk you home," he said, taking her hand in his, and she smiled.

"Oh, and trees in the area will drop their fruits on her for like, a year."

Warren let himself laugh out loud, and Layla grinned, satisfied. After today, making him laugh was really all she wanted.

* * *

_Hey all, it's been a while! I can't promise to update this regularly, however I do have a weak spot for this couple, and I hope I will be able to keep writing about them ^-^ Please leave a review if you've enjoyed this!_

_Dya._


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